Yantic River expected to flood because of heavy rain

Thursday

Jun 13, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 13, 2013 at 1:02 PM

City officials and the National Weather Service are warning of possible major flooding along the Yantic River today through Friday, as an unusual Nor’easter passes to the south of New England later today bringing heavy rain with it.

Adam Benson

City officials and the National Weather Service are warning of possible major flooding along the Yantic River today through Friday, as an unusual Nor’easter passes to the south of New England later today bringing heavy rain with it.

This latest round of heavy precipitation comes on top of severe storms last Friday and Monday, which dumped nearly 7 inches of rain in southeastern Connecticut. The ground is saturated from those storms and the water table is high. The entire state is under a flood watch until Saturday morning.

“Everything is full. We cannot take any more water,” said Gene Arters, Norwich’s emergency management director. “It would take a very small amount to get it (the Yantic River) to (flood) level.”

WFSB Chief Meteorologist Bruce DePrest called today’s storm a “June Nor’easter,” saying it could have maximum winds of up to 40 mph and could drop as much as 4 inches of rain in some areas.

That leaves the possibility of urban flooding, with storm drains clogging and water in basements, he said.

“When you compound this with the fact parts of the state have had 6 to 12 inches of rain in just the first part of June, it’s a very delicate situation at the moment,” DePrest said.

Arters said the city has 2,000 sandbags at the ready, and personnel will canvass areas around the Yantic River starting today.

The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for the region through 8 a.m. on Saturday.

Meanwhile, spokesmen for Connecticut Light & Power and Norwich Public Utilities say both companies are ready to respond should there be any power outages or downed lines as a result of the storm.

“It looks like the most significant impact we could expect would be the gusts of wind, and because the ground is saturated we could see some downed trees, but as always, we’re ready for whatever comes our way,” NPU spokeswoman Jeanne Kurasz.

Mitch Gross, of CL&P, said crews have stayed on top of tree trimming and are prepared to handle any emergencies.

“There continues to be tree trimming across our service area, and we always watch the forecasts very closely,” he said.